DA calls on ANC to ‘split’ amid CR17 election campaign revelations

Following mounting corruption allegations in the ANC, DA leader Mmusi Maimane has called on the ANC to “split” into two factions: those who support corruption and those who oppose it.

Maimane tweeted on Saturday: “Let the ruling party split. So those who are committed to corruption work together and stand for an election, and those who are opposed to corruption and building a constitutional democracy join forces. That’s the choice that must be presented to voters. We must bring change.”

Maimane’s comments come after a News24 exclusive report uncovered leaked emails from the heart of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s successful 2017 ANC presidential campaign, which reveal the names of some of his potential donors and undermine the defence that Ramaphosa was kept at arm’s length of his funders.

The emails were referenced in Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s report on a R500 000 donation to the CR17 campaign from controversial Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson.

Mkhwebane used a complaint of suspected money laundering with the Watson donation to obtain the CR17 campaign’s bank statements and warns in her report that Ramaphosa may have been captured by his private donors.

She identified donations totalling almost R200m that went into the campaign, including three large amounts from the same donor.

Mkhwebane found that Ramaphosa breached his oath of office by misleading Parliament about the source of the R500 000 and has referred that money laundering allegations to the National Prosecuting Authority, and she relied on the emails to find that Ramaphosa was involved in the fundraising efforts of the campaign.

It is unclear how Mkhwebane obtained the emails. Ramaphosa’s campaign managers believe their communication may have been illegally intercepted.

Maimane further responded to the report by tweeting: “Expect more of this, as the governing party collapses with deployees & state fighting each other. Our greatest challenge is that we have An[sic] economy in distress, and a country that must focus on jobs & the future. Let’s reform our politics so those who share values work together”.

– News24 Wire

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